Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, February 15, 1993 TAG: 9302150066
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: DAYTONA BEACH, FLA. LENGTH: Medium
JARRETT WINS WILD DAYTONA 500
Dale Jarrett, son of a racing legend, did some legendary work of his own Sunday at Daytona International Speedway, passing Dale Earnhardt on the last lap to win one of the most exciting Daytona 500s ever."When you beat Dale Earnhardt at anything, anytime, anywhere, you know you've done a day's work," Jarrett said after nipping Earnhardt by about two car lengths after 500 miles of tight racing.
This race had it all - spectacular passing, spectacular crashes, feudin' and fightin', a wild finish and a heartwarming victory for Washington Redskins football coach Joe Gibbs, the owner of Jarrett's car.
"This is hard to believe," Gibbs said. "I'm one of the most fortunate individuals in the world - to win three Super Bowls and now, the Super Bowl of motorsports. The thrill is exactly the same."
Who would have guessed that Jarrett could pass Earnhardt on the last lap of stock car racing's greatest race?
"The Intimidator" had one of the best cars all week. He led 107 of the 200 laps and 21 of the last 22.
In the end, though, Jarrett had the better Chevrolet Lumina.
And he had a friend in Ford Thunderbird driver Geoff Bodine - never a friend of Earnhardt's.
Bodine, who finished third behind Earnhardt, gave Jarrett the drafting assist he needed to make the race-winning pass in turns 1 and 2 of the last lap.
"Jarrett had the strongest engine out there," Earnhardt said. "There just wasn't anything I could do.
"We've lost this race about every way you can lose it. We've been out-gassed, out-tired, outrun, out-everythinged. We've come close, but we've not won it about every way you can't win it. I guess all that's left to do now is to come back next year and try to win it any way we can."
Hut Stricklin finished fourth, just barely edging rookie Jeff Gordon, who had a spectacular Daytona debut.
Gibbs' family was with him in the pits. His son, J.D., changed the left side tires on Jarrett's car. The team's crew chief, Jimmy Makar, is married to Jarrett's sister, Patti.
And as Jarrett battled past Earnhardt on the final lap, his father, Ned, a two-time NASCAR champion, called the action live - and coached his son - for a nationwide television audience from the CBS announcing booth high above the 2.5-mile track.
"C'mon, Dale," his father said. "Go, baby, go! Don't let him get on the inside coming in the turn!"
And then, when it was a sure thing: "Oh, my God!"
Down behind the pits, sitting in the family van, Dale Jarrett's mother, Martha, began crying.
The finish to this 500 was thrilling enough. But the rest of the race was loaded with action, too, particularly the final 125 miles.
On lap 157, Al Unser Jr. tangled with Earnhardt and then plowed into Bobby Hillin. Pole winner Kyle Petty then hit Hillin. Petty came out of his car steaming. He vented his fury on Hillin, who was not inclined to take the blame. The two engaged in a low-impact shoving and shouting match.
Then, from lap 164 to lap 169, there was a new leader every lap, as Sterling Marlin, Earnhardt and Stricklin traded the lead.
Then on lap 169, Rusty Wallace was the innocent victim of a collision between Derrike Cope and Michael Waltrip. Those two kept going, but Wallace tumbled down the backstretch in a terrifying series of barrel rolls. The wreck looked every bit as bad as Darrell Waltrip's crash here in July, 1991. Wallace was cut on the chin, but otherwise unhurt.
When the race restarted on lap 174, Earnhardt's black Chevy held the lead. But Jarrett, poised directly behind, jumped ahead on lap 177. Earnhardt came right back to lead again on lap 179.
And there he stayed, with Jarrett and Gordon behind him, working their cars to see what they might be able to do at the end.
Jarrett often used a high line through the turns, but his car was handling so well he could also hug the white line at the bottom of the turns when he needed to.
For Earnhardt, the beginning of the end came when his car slid high into turns 3 and 4 on the next-to-last lap.
Jarrett "got under me and got me a little loose in three and four," Earnhardt said.
"We took it to the bottom and got beside him," Jarrett said. "We touched a little coming off of turn four. Then Geoff Bodine got behind me and gave me the push I needed going into turn one.
"Without that, we would have raced side-by-side and no telling what would have happened. I'm sure somebody would have made it three-wide and then the guy in 15th might have won."
Keywords:
AUTO RACING